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The Arabs call the strait Babelmandeb, that is, the "Gate of Tears," because of the number of vessels which have been wrecked here in the endeavor to enter from the open sea. Aden lies within the rainless zone, so that sometimes the inhabitants see no rainfall for three years together.
From Aden, Covilham crossed the straits of Babelmandeb to the south- eastern coast of Abyssinia, where he found Alexander the king, or negus, at the head of an army, levying tribute or contributions from his rebellious subjects of the southern provinces of his dominions.
But there is no evidence that his fleets, which sailed from Berenice, were destined for India, or even passed the Straits of Babelmandeb. It is, however, not meant to be asserted that no vessels passed these straits in the time of this Ptolemy.
In the time of Artemidorus, however, the trade of Egypt on the coast of Africa had reached as low down as the Southern Horn; that this trade was still in its infancy, is apparent from a circumstance mentioned by Strabo, on the authority of Artemidorus; that at the straits the cargo was transferred from ships to boats; bastard cinnamon, perhaps casia lignea or hard cinnamon, is specified as one of the principal articles which the Egyptians obtained from the coast of Africa, when they passed the straits of Babelmandeb.
As the navigation of the Red Sea had now become a source of great wealth to his subjects, he deemed it necessary to free it as much as possible from the pirates that infested it's coasts; for this purpose, as well as to preserve a communication between Egypt and the countries which extended to its mouth, he established governors from the isthmus of Suez, along the Arabian and African coasts, as far as the straits of Babelmandeb; and planted colonies of Greeks and Egyptians to carry on the commerce, and protect the interests of his subjects.
We embarked from Bombay, February 9th, on board the P. and O. steamship Kashgar for Suez, a voyage of three thousand miles across the Sea of Arabia and the Indian Ocean, through the Straits of Babelmandeb and the entire length of the Red Sea. The most southerly point of the voyage took us within fourteen degrees of the equator, and consequently into an extremely warm temperature.
The surface of the water, I well knew, afforded less resistance to the wheels of the machine it passed along the waves like the chariot of Neptune; and in short, having gotten upon the Red Sea, we scudded away to admiration through the pass of Babelmandeb to the great Western coast of Africa, where Alexander had not the courage to venture.
As there was a complete monopoly of them at this place, in the hands of the Arabians, the Greek navigators and merchants were induced, in the hopes of obtaining them cheaper, to pass the Straits of Babelmandeb, and on the coast of Africa they found cinnamon and other produce of India, which had been brought hither by the Arabian traders.
It is not impossible that, occasionally, the Egyptians allowed them to build ships in some one or more of their Red Sea ports, and to make such port or ports the head-quarters of a trade which may have proceeded beyond the Straits of Babelmandeb and possibly have reached Zanzibar and Ceylon. At any rate, we know that, in the time of Solomon, two harbours upon the Red Sea were open to them viz.
This embraced the passage across the continent of America and the Pacific Ocean to Japan, with a month of residence and travel in that country; thence to China and up the Pearl River to Canton; a week in Hong Kong; a thousand-mile voyage down the China Sea to the chief ports of the Malacca Straits; across the Indian Ocean to the Island of Ceylon, with a week for excursions therein; thence to India, with a liberal exploration of its principal cities, including a visit to the Himalayas in the extreme north; through the Sea of Arabia, the Straits of Babelmandeb, and the Red Sea to Egypt, Cairo, and Alexandria; through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean to Italy, Malta, Gibraltar, France, and England.
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